SPLAT is a developer and manufacturer of cosmetic products for oral care. Founder of the company and ambassador of the Moscow Government Entrepreneurial Prize âBreakthrough of the Yearâ Evgeny Dyomin told how to survive the decline in revenue, but subsequently become a market leader, why the value of the product should be higher than its price and what is the complexity of doing business in Russia.
About the first business
While still at university, I wanted to earn, build, do something interesting. At this time I earned my first money, but SPLAT was a really serious project..
It was a common start with several of my classmates and a girl who later became my wife.
We started the business together because of the circumstances. At that age, after graduating from university, no one thought strategically and seriously. We didnât solve this on purpose..
About mission
Our mission is the answer to the question: âWhy do people need our company?â The question is simple and complex at the same time. When asked about a mission, I always answer that way.
We formulated this thesis 18 years ago. Recently, at a large corporate conference of SPLAT leaders, where there were 350 of our managers and line managers, we discussed this all day.
If employees share the principles by which the company is built, and everyone finds for themselves something important that responds internally, understands how these words affect a great result, then the mission works. If these are just beautiful formulations that are written in HR documents, then thatâs not it.
SPLATâs mission is to help people be healthy, beautiful and successful..
The mission has not changed during this time, but every year we continue to discuss it. It must be relevant, it must be understood so that it leads.
About bugs
When a company develops, mistakes are inevitable. Not the error itself is bad, but the lack of conclusions and its repetition.
In addition to errors, there are tipping points. The first three years we were engaged in the distribution of goods from other manufacturers. We earned money and invested in our brand, developing our products: formulas, samples, the first industrial batch.
At one point, it became clear that trade captivates us and leads us away from our destination. I decided that we are ending the distribution of other peopleâs goods and remain only with our brand.
It was a difficult decision, and the team discussed it more than one day. After we agreed, revenue fell 95%. We burned bridges.
Then they fell into a severe crisis. Money for personal expenses, food, utilities, necessary things ended. But the desire to make the product better and talk about it allowed SPLAT to become what we have become.
Everyone who worked at the company had a hard time. From a successful market player, we have turned into a small startup. Each worked in sales and went around a dozen points a day, receiving many failures.
About entrepreneurship in Russia
Is Russia fit for business? I do not think that some country is adapted for entrepreneurship, and some does not. Now, when we do business in foreign countries (there are more than sixty of them), there is something to compare.
In Russia, competition is definitely lower than in many developed economies, which is a plus. We have many opportunities. In our country, a large market and relatively low taxes, both corporate and personal.
The great difficulty is regulation. We have a wildly regulated environment, there are many redundant requirements for business, they have remained since the days of the Soviet Union.
There are tens of thousands of old rules that are not relevant, but they cannot be undone. Any reviewer can contact them and find your mistake..
For Russia to become open to business, two things need to be done. The first is to greatly simplify regulation within, leaving only the really important criteria that ensure the safety of products and services. These criteria should be placed on one sheet..
The second is to make export easy so that it does not differ from domestic operations. If we want to be a full-fledged participant in the international global market, we must remove the barriers. While there are enough of them.
About money
When you are an entrepreneur, you have a favorite investment object â this is your business. I donât invest in projects other than SPLAT, but I help many startups as a mentor.
Becoming an entrepreneur, a person becomes more responsible. He is responsible for others, understands that you need to pay salaries, rent.
The entrepreneur must not only calculate that he has enough for everything, but calculate it forward for several months or even years.
The most interesting thing is that there is a cool opportunity to spend money, or rather, invest it in your team: train it, make the environment more convenient, buy equipment, programs, technologies. You can see how this strengthens the business, makes the company more efficient. Itâs a great joy for me to invest in my business and understand that it is becoming stronger.
About competition
You can remain a leader if you do a few things:
- It is necessary to keep promises. To be honest â with the team, the people for whom you work, and even with competitors. This is the foundation of healthy growth..
- You need to understand that the product you create really helps. For us, this means going through clinical trials, showing higher results than previous generations. We must be sure that the product is beneficial and effective..
- You need to create a product that exceeds expectations. The value from it should be more than the price that a person paid for it. Then there is a feeling: âWow! I got a cool thing, made a bargain, I like it. For me, this value is more than the money I spent. â.
The rules apply to any product: pencil, expensive car or a bottle of juice. The main thing is that all this exceeds the entrepreneurâs investment.
It is important to remember what the team does. A team is the most valuable and expensive asset. Not machines, inventions, formulas and patents, but people who do it.
About advertising
We do not use direct advertising knowingly. But we understand that we need to convey a message to buyers. The message can be anything: the product itself, social networks or the history of the company â true with ups and downs, transformations, experiences. What is interesting to people.
We openly tell everyone who we are, why we are doing what is good and what is not. Anyone can write in SPLAT â advise something, help improve, â and we will answer. If the letter comes to me, then the person will surely receive an answer personally from me.
Any advertisement is a message that a person receives about a product or brand.
If you manage to convey a message with a sense of DNA and the spirit of the company, the buyer will see the benefits for himself, and it will work. If not, no videos, billboards and contextual advertising will replace the real ideas that I want to talk about.
Three tips for a budding entrepreneur
1. Start as early as possible
I regret that I did not try something already in high school. Itâs not necessarily about money; you need to understand how entrepreneurship works, because entrepreneurship is creation. Creation of what was not before.
2. Be bolder
Life is changing fast. Better to try than then to remember a missed opportunity.
3. Find the people you will learn from
They can be inside your small team or outside, a mentor or mentor. The main thing is that there is someone who honestly and openly tells you if something goes wrong.
It is important for me and for SPLAT to support young entrepreneurs, start-ups and Russian companies in general. Therefore, we took part in the Moscow Entrepreneurial Award âBreakthrough of the Yearâ. There is the nomination âExporter of the Yearâ, and we really want Russian companies to become part of the global market. Therefore, I have two hands for the fact that in Moscow there is such a prize.
Similar articles
- Anna Kasyanova on entrepreneurship, mistakes and mission
Anna Kasyanova, founder of the â0 Caloriesâ project and Ambassador of the Moscow Government Entrepreneurial Prize âBreakthrough of the Yearâ, told how to make dessertsâŠ
- Mikhail Goncharov on entrepreneurship, mission and mistakes
Founder and manager of the Teremok fast-casual restaurant chain, Ambassador of the Moscow Government Entrepreneurial Prize âBreakthrough of the Yearâ Mikhail GoncharovâŠ
- Dmitry Kibkalo about entrepreneurship, mistakes and mission
The founder of the federal network of board games stores Mosigra and the ambassador of the Entrepreneurial Prize of the Moscow Government âBreakthrough of the Yearâ â DmitryâŠ
How did Eugene Dyomin, the founder of SPLAT, overcome mistakes and challenges in his business journey? What is his approach to setting and achieving missions for his company?